by Jeff King (with thanks to Anth Johnson)
Durham County FA Under-18s Saturday League - Saturday 31st August 2024
Chester-le-Street United 1 v 1 Coxhoe United
It was the first home game of the U-18 season on Saturday and United took a good point to get them up and running for the season but were perhaps disappointed with not taking all three after being on top for large parts of the game.
This was particularly true especially in the first half which saw United allow a host of decent chances go begging. Against the run of play and with their first attack of the game on the twenty minute mark Coxhoe took the lead.
United gave the ball away cheaply at the halfway line whilst in comfortable possession. The opposing striker racing onto the resulting through ball and slotted past Alex Lambert with a well taken finish.
Carter Bell, Ethan Connolly and Ethan Bell all had good early chances either blocked or well saved from the Coxhoe keeper who at that point had kept his side in the game.
The equaliser came ten minutes into the second half. A good piece of skill from Max Hepworth cutting in from the left wing and then guiding a clever shot into the bottom right hand corner with the keeper unsighted.
Head Coach Anth Johnson although disappointed not to record a win was pleased with what he felt was a good performance in an entertaining game.
"Credit to the away side who worked really hard throughout and made it difficult for us to penetrate especially in the second 45 minutes."
"We did however limit them to very few chances as we defended well which was good but the missed opportunities eventually had an impact on us not gaining all three points."
"With a number of key players missing it was still a very positive performance with lots of good play from the young group. Second half we felt if we remained patient on the ball it would only be a matter of time before we would find the net."
"Another pleasing display overall from this new group with four of our U-16 PV Performance Centre players in today’s starting line up. These lads will all continue to improve the more games they get under their belts together."
TEAM : 1. Alex Lambert 2. Harry Garvey 3. Alfie Whyte 4. Alex White 5. Harrison Price 6. Ethan Connelly 7. Shay Pye 8. Carter Bell 9. Ethan Bell 10. Liam Anderson 11. Max Hepworth
SUB : 12. Joe Bell
SCORER : Max Hepworth
Man of the Match : Max Hepworth
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